Where Kate Was
by Kara1626
Summary: While on an out-of-town investigation, Kate goes missing. But it's not what anyone thinks. WARNING: Contains non-consensual spanking of an adult.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: Contains non-consensual spanking of adults.**

**NOTE: I don't usually write for NCIS, but I've had a couple of stories that wouldn't go away. Here's the second.**

"DiNozzo."

"Yeah, Boss"

"Go to bed." Tony didn't budge. "Now, DiNozzo!"

"I want to make sure she's ok," Tony answered quietly.

"I'm not going to tell you again," Gibbs growled. Tony paused a moment longer then reluctantly stood up and moved slowly toward his room. "Tony," Gibbs said quietly, "if I need you, I'll wake you." Tony nodded and finally obeyed.

Gibbs sat back for a moment and rubbed his eyes then stood up and started pacing the length of the hotel suite living room. Again. He checked his watch for the hundredth time that evening. _Where the hell was she?_

_Earlier that evening:_

Kate pulled her phone out and checked the incoming number. She didn't recognize it, but the area code matched the city they had found themselves in for their latest investigation. She excused herself from the table to take the call. It was a short call and when she returned, their meals had been delivered and Tony's was already half gone. Gibbs was staring at his senior agent in awe, his own fork suspended between his plate and his mouth.

Gibbs shook his head and looked up at Kate. "Who was on the phone?"

"An old friend. She thought she saw me at that store yesterday and called to see if I was in town. She wants to meet up for drinks tonight if I've got the time," Kate answered, a big smile on her face.

"Well," Gibbs said after swallowing his first bite of lasagna, "since the case is wrapped up and we're not heading back until morning, I'd say you've got the time."

"That's what I told her. I'm meeting her at eight," Kate said as she delicately twirled some spaghetti around her fork.

"Whaa aa mee gooig?" Tony asked around his own mouthful of lasagna.

"Where did you learn your table manners, Tony?" Kate asked, clearly disgusted. Gibbs merely shot Tony a dirty look and shook his head.

"I thought you and I would head to the batting cages for the evening," Gibbs answered.

Tony swallowed deliberately. "Cool," he grinned.

Gibbs turned back to Kate, "Just make it back to the hotel by midnight. I want to get an early start, ok?"

"Got it. Thanks."

* * * * *

Gibbs' head snapped up as he heard the electronic lock on the door click. The door opened slowly and he saw Kate's silhouette creep in the door. He waited until she had closed the door and pushed the bar lock into place before he turned on the light. Kate jumped and turned around.

"Where the hell have you been?" Gibbs launched in without prelude. Kate opened her mouth, but Gibbs interrupted her. "Go to bed. We'll deal with this in the morning." Kate again opened her mouth, but again, she was interrupted. "Now, Kate." Wisely, Kate obeyed.

Barely ten minutes after Kate made it to bed, she saw her door open a crack. "What do you want, Tony?" she whispered. The door opened a little wider and Kate saw Tony glance over his shoulder before he walked into the room and sat down on Kate's bed.

"You ok?" he whispered.

"For now," Kate answered quietly.

"Where were you?"

"Don't worry about it."

"I do worry about it, Kate," Tony answered in an angry whisper. "You're my partner and you went off grid for three hours."

"We just lost track of time. Go back to bed before Gibbs catches you."

"I'm not buying it," Tony answered, still clearly angry.

"Go to bed."

"What did Gibbs say?" Tony asked, ignoring her.

"Nothing," Kate answered.

"Nothing?"

Kate sighed. "He said he'd deal with me in the morning."

"Ouch," Tony said then patted her leg through the blankets before standing up. "Good night, Kate."

The next morning, Tony again entered Kate's room. This time, she was fast asleep. "Kate," he said quietly. She stirred for a moment then opened her eyes. "You need to get up," he continued.

"What time is it?" she asked, still half asleep.

"0630." Kate closed her eyes for another moment, then sat up and stretched. "Gibbs went out to get breakfast. He wants you up and dressed when he gets back."

"Is he still mad?" Kate asked as she pushed herself out of bed.

"Yeah. He is."

Kate nodded and rubbed her eyes. "What do you think he's got planned for me?"

"Well," Tony began hesitantly, "last time I missed curfew, I was pretty sure I wouldn't sit for the rest of the week by the time Gibbs got done with me."

"How late were you?" Kate asked as she pulled clothes out of her bag.

"Half an hour."

"So I guess three hours means he's actually going to kill me," she said with a nervous grin.

Tony shrugged. "I don't think he'll kill you, but he may have you reassigned to a ship in the North Atlantic."

"Yeah. I need a shower," Kate said before disappearing behind the bathroom door.

When she appeared twenty minutes later, she was dressed in corduroy pants and a sweater with her wet hair pulled back into a clip. Emerging from her room, she found Tony sitting at the table eating breakfast and Gibbs leaning on the counter sipping coffee from a paper cup. A plate of food sat on the table across from Tony. One look from Gibbs and Kate immediately sat down and started pushing food around on her plate.

"Tony," Gibbs said suddenly, "finish up. I have an errand I need you to run before we leave."

Tony glanced over at Kate, pushed one last bite of breakfast into his mouth then excused himself to brush his teeth. Less than ten minutes later, Tony slipped out of the suite to go find a way to keep himself busy for half an hour.

As soon as the door was closed, Gibbs yanked a chair out from the table, flipped it around and sat down. "Start talking," he ordered.

Kate swallowed hard. "We just lost…"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Kate!"

Kate bit her lip. "I met my friend for a drink and then some of her friends showed up. The next thing I knew, we were at a club downtown. I really did lose track of time. I'm sorry."

Gibbs glared at her for a long moment. "Do you know how close I came to putting out a BOLO for you, Kate?" he asked, clearly still angry. "That was just stupid, irresponsible and immature. I'd expect that kind of thing from Tony, but not from you."

"I know," Kate answered, staring down at the table.

Gibbs stood up suddenly. "With me," he ordered and headed for her room.

Kate stood slowly and followed, her heart in her throat. When she got to her room, Gibbs was coming out of her bathroom with her hairbrush in his hand. Her heart stopped.

"You don't get to pull a stunt like that and not pay the price, Kate," Gibbs said, motioning with the brush toward the bed.

"I know," Kate answered quietly and turned toward the bed. But as she started to bend over, Gibbs stopped her.

"You know you won't feel this through those pants," he said. "And I think you knew that when you got dressed this morning. Drop them."

"Gibbs!" Kate whined.

"I could use my belt," he said warningly.

Kate considered that for a moment before slowly turning around and unbuttoning her pants. She pushed them down to just above her knees and bent over, putting her elbows on the bed.

Without a word, Gibbs placed one hand gently on her back and brought the other hand and the back of the brush down against her underwear-clad backside. The first smack was hard and left no doubt in Kate's mind that she had royally pissed her boss off. It was followed immediately by another one. The third one brought Kate to tears. She quietly cursed herself – she'd never cried so quickly from a spanking. But then again, this wasn't a normal spanking. This was harder than any she'd ever gotten, even from Gibbs. And it was more deserved – more than even Gibbs knew.

Gibbs knew he was hurting her, but she had scared him more than anyone else on his team ever had. Even Abby had never scared him this much, and she'd done some pretty dumb things. But as he continued spanking her, he wondered why she hadn't fought him more. He'd never told her to pull her pants down before, but she'd done it willingly. Something wasn't right. And then it hit him – she had lied to him. Immediately, he stopped the spanking and bent over the bed himself.

"You lied to me," he growled at her, just inches from her face.

Kate buried her face in her arms, still sobbing from the pain, but even more now from guilt.

"Do you know what happens when someone lies to me?" he continued. He saw Kate nod, her head still down. "Pull your pants up."

As Kate slowly obeyed, Gibbs took off his belt and folded it in half. "You have one more chance to tell me the truth."

"I can't," Kate sobbed.

There was definitely something wrong. Gibbs dropped the belt on the bed and put his hands on Kate's shoulders. "Kate, what happened last night? You have to tell me." Kate shook her head and continued sobbing. "I'm already punishing you. You have nothing left to lose. Just tell me what happened."

"When will Tony be back?" Kate asked, still crying.

Gibbs looked confused, but checked the clock anyway. "In about fifteen minutes, why?" He reached over, grabbed a tissue and handed it to Kate.

Kate wiped her eyes and nose. "I lied to him too."

Gibbs studied her for a moment then reached for his phone. "DiNozzo," he barked into the phone, "get back here." He hung up without waiting for Tony to answer.


	2. Chapter 2

Less than a minute later, Tony was back in the suite. "Get in here," Gibbs called. Tony appeared looking very confused and wondering what he'd done wrong. Gibbs ignored him and turned to Kate.

"What happened?" he asked, a little more gently than he had before.

Tony took in the scene – Gibbs standing next to the bed, a belt _and_ a hairbrush lying on the bed and Kate backed as far away from Gibbs, the bed and the implements of her punishment as she could. She had clearly been crying and Tony wanted to run over to her and hug her. But something wasn't right, so he kept his distance.

Kate turned to Tony. "I'm so sorry," she said, tearing up again.

"For what?" he asked, moving toward her.

"Tony," Gibbs said quietly shaking his head. Tony froze and looked at Kate.

"I lied to you," she sniffed. "To both of you. I didn't lose track of time last night. And I didn't meet a friend for drinks or go to a club." She started crying again, walked over the bed and sat down. Both Gibbs and Tony took that as a good sign. Gibbs was still standing next to her, waiting for the rest of the story before deciding how to react. Tony slid down the wall and sat on the floor, never taking his eyes off Kate.

A minute or so later, Kate continued. "The phone call I got _was_ from an old friend who saw me in town. But she didn't call because she wanted to have drinks. She called because she needed help. Her ex-boyfriend was stalking her and she was scared. I met her at her house and he showed up around 11:30. He banged on the door and refused to leave. The next thing I knew, he pulled out a gun, shot the lock and forced his way into the house. I pulled my gun on him and he fired at me. But he missed…" she started sobbing again.

This time, Gibbs sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Shhh, it's ok," he whispered into her hair. He held her while she cried again.

Tony watched from the floor for a moment before putting his head in his hands. He couldn't believe she hadn't just told them last night. And he couldn't believe that she'd had to live through _another _suicide by cop.

Gibbs looked over from the bed. "Tony," he said quietly.

"On it, Boss," he answered. He stood up, walked over to Kate and Gibbs, planted a gentle kiss on the top of Kate's head and quietly left the room to call the local LEOs and get the rest of the story.

When Tony had gone out to the living room, Gibbs gently pushed Kate back so that he could see her face. "Kate," he said quietly, "why didn't you just tell me last night?"

"I was scared."

"Of what? Of me?" Kate nodded. "What did you think I would do?"

"I wasn't afraid you'd do something. I just didn't want you to get involved. I was scared of what would happen to you when the director found out what I'd done."

"It was self-defense, Kate. Wasn't it?" When she didn't answer, he put a finger under her chin. "You knew him, didn't you?" She nodded. "How?"

"He was my ex-boyfriend too."

Tony walked back into the room, having gotten the official report from the police. But seeing Gibbs and Kate still locked in quiet conversation, he took his place on the floor against the wall again.

"Did he hurt you?" Gibbs asked.

Kate nodded. "When we were dating, he hit me once. I broke it off with him and got a restraining order. I never told anyone, but when I found out that he was dating Lauren, I called her and warned her about him. Naturally, she tried to tell me he'd changed."

"How long ago was this?" Tony finally spoke.

"A couple of months. When she called yesterday, I knew she was wrong. She'd had to change her number and was even thinking about moving."

"What do you got, Tony?" Gibbs asked.

"Talked to the local LEO's. They wrote it up as self-defense. But Kate, you didn't tell them you knew him, did you?"

Kate shook her head.

"Well," Gibbs said, "I guess that's the only thing you really did wrong as far as the police report is concerned. You need to put it in your report to the director, though." Kate nodded, wiping her eyes again. "Tony," he jerked his head toward the door and Tony left the room, closing it behind him.

Gibbs stood up and walked across the room. "I still don't understand why you thought it was a good idea to lie to me about this. You knew I would find out eventually."

Kate could hear the confusion and even hurt in his voice. Tears threatened her eyes again. "I wasn't really thinking. I'm so sorry," she said, her voice shaking.

"It's ok," he sighed. "It's over."

"No it's not," Kate said. She stood up, picked up Gibbs' belt and held it out to him. "I lied to you."

"I already spanked you," Gibbs said, not taking the belt.

"You spanked me for missing curfew and making you worry."

"But if you had just told me the truth last night, there's no way I would have punished you," Gibbs said, beyond confused. Suddenly, he understood. He sighed deeply and looked at his broken agent. "You _wanted_ me to spank you. You thought it would make you feel better."

Kate looked away. "It just felt so much like last time," she said quietly.

"I'm not saying you'll ever get used to having to kill someone, but if you're going to survive as an agent, you've got to learn to cope with it. Especially in situations like this. And before you tell me that that's what this was," he said, gesturing toward the bed, "self-destructive behavior is _not_ the answer. Just ask Tony."

Kate looked up. "I lied to you," she repeated.

Gibbs looked at the ceiling for a moment, chewing on his lip. Finally, he sighed and nodded. He took the belt from Kate and she turned around and bent over. The second spanking of the morning was half-hearted. But Gibbs knew that if he didn't do what Kate felt she needed, she wouldn't be able to let go of her guilt. He knew, after the hard paddling she'd received less than half an hour earlier, the belt would sting even through her thick pants. But he only hit her hard enough for her to not think he was holding back too much.

The ten lashes from the belt did little more than take Kate's breath away a bit, but it was the act of submitting to the punishment that made Kate feel better. She would have to deal with the guilt from the shooting, but at least she was absolved of her guilt from lying to her boss.

Tony sat in the living room and couldn't believe that Gibbs was spanking her again. And from the sounds of it, he was using his belt. What could possibly make him spank her after the story she'd just told them, especially after he'd already spanked her _before_ she told it. He jumped up when Gibbs finally opened the door.

"What the…" he started.

"Get the car packed up, will you Tony?" Gibbs asked. He looked tired and sad, and that was what made Tony obey instead of attacking him for spanking Kate again.

When he returned after putting the bags in the car, Gibbs was once again hugging Kate. When she saw him in the doorway, she pulled away and hurried over to Tony. She threw her arms around his neck, much to Tony's surprise. "I'm sorry, Tony," she said into his chest.

Tony looked at Gibbs over Kate's head, but Gibbs just shook his head slightly and headed to the bathroom. "Are you ok?" Tony asked Kate.

"I will be," she answered, still clinging to him.


	3. Chapter 3

The ride back to Washington was quiet. Kate fell asleep in the back seat, and any attempt Tony made at small talk with Gibbs went unanswered. It was late when they got back to the Navy Yard and Kate immediately put her bag in her car, said good-night and left.

"Gibbs," Tony said as his boss turned to leave.

Gibbs stopped and turned around. He leaned against his car and nodded. "Ok, ask."

"What happened?"

"That's not the question you want to ask," Gibbs said knowingly.

Tony swallowed, not sure he really wanted to ask. "What did you do to her?"

Gibbs took a deep breath. "I was paddling her, but something didn't seem right, so I stopped. It took a while, but eventually, she told me what really happened last night."

"But after she told you, you spanked her again!" Tony said angrily.

"She asked me to," Gibbs said wearily. "And I think you understand why."

Immediately, Tony felt horrible for being angry at Gibbs. He was right – he knew exactly why she'd done it. He knew, because he'd done it before too. "Good night, Boss," Tony said as he turned to leave.

"Hey Tony?" Gibbs called after him. "If you call first, she won't let you in."

"I know."

Kate had already pulled out the wine glasses and a bottle of wine by the time Tony knocked on her door. She'd learned long ago that it was better to just let him in than try to fight him. And tonight, she actually craved his company.

As soon as she opened the door, he wrapped her in a hug and held her for a moment before kissing the top of her head and letting her go. When they were settled in the living room – Kate laying on the couch, Tony leaning against the ottoman on the floor – he asked his question for the third time. "Are you ok?"

"Getting there. I feel better about some things," she said.

"Was it bad?" he asked.

"The first one was the worst he's ever given me."

"Yeah, but those pants probably offered decent protection." Kate gave him a look and Tony's mouth dropped open. "Not everything," he asked in shock.

"No, of course not," Kate said, taking a sip of wine. "Just my pants. He assumed I'd put them on on purpose," she shrugged.

"He assumed correctly, didn't he?" Tony said knowingly. "Yeah, I tried that once. Didn't work for me either. But I'm pretty sure a strap against skin was still worse than your brush over underwear." It was Kate's turn to be shocked. When she was done, he looked at her for a minute. "But why did he take the belt to you?"

"I lied to him," Kate shrugged. When Tony gave her a look, she looked away. "I asked him to. You know that."

"Yeah, I do. I just wanted to make sure." Tony looked at his friend and partner for a minute, then drained his glass and stood up. "Ok, well, it's late. I'll see you in the morning."

Kate walked Tony to the door then planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks for not being you," she laughed.

Tony grinned back. "Good night, Kate. And Kate? Next time, seriously, just tell us the truth."

She closed the door and leaned against it for a moment. He was right, but she did feel better. And if nothing else, being exhausted would at least help her sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


End file.
